Internet marketers can be a bit of a needy bunch. Whenever we post something on social media, we want a ton of likes, re-tweets or other signs of engagement. But we don’t want likes for ourselves. Our goal is to get them for you, the small business owner.
Facebook popularity isn’t some vain or pointless pursuit. Your ability to connect with people on social media will have a direct impact on your site’s traffic and sales.
When hiring an SEO agency, don’t be surprised if they want to spend some time improving your brand’s social media pages. As the top dog of the social media world, Facebook is usually the focal point of social media optimization.
Here are some strategies we’ll use to increase the engagement on your Facebook page:
Status Symbol
With Facebook, users communicate via status updates. You might want to share a picture of your lunch, react to a story in the news, wish someone a happy birthday and more. Personal status updates are usually informal, loose and off-the-cuff.
Status updates on a brand page are different. They’re optimized for engagement. While the term “engagement” is pretty broad as defined by Facebook, for our purposes we’re talking about likes, comments and shares.
What Kind of Content Do People Like?
People look for content which is:
- Interesting
- Important
- Timely
- Funny
Don’t worry. Each piece of content only needs one of those in order to connect. Let’s take a deeper look:
Interesting content is relevant to your audience’s interests. This will often be news and info related to your industry. Facebook Audience Insights is a great tool to learn more about who follows your brand.
With Insights, you can see what other pages your followers like, how often they use Facebook, what products they buy and more. Note that you’ll need to use Facebook ads in order to access Facebook Insights. The specifics of any ad campaign will be determined by your brand’s needs.
Understanding your audience is the key to creating content which connects. The data collected is used to decide on future topics, post format and more.
The Right Time Makes All the Difference
Traditional blog posts, like the ones on your main website, aren’t very time sensitive. You can publish how to guides and other evergreen topics pretty much year-round. Social media works a bit differently.
Facebook posts are often here today but gone tomorrow. Unlike a blog post, a Facebook post can’t really be repurposed and doesn’t develop a following over time. Instead, people view their Facebook feed as a more disposable source of content.
There are two types of Facebook timeliness:
- Seasonal
- Current Events
Just like traditional retail stores, Facebook can be used to promote a variety of seasonal sales such as Christmas, summertime and so on. One advantage Facebook has over traditional ads is a low-cost immediacy. You can send out a Facebook ad for “National Free Cookie Day” or any other wacky holiday related to your brand.
From the Ice Bucket Challenge to a list of concerts attended, Facebook is always filled with one trend or another. When appropriate you’ll want to connect these trends to your brand.
As with any social media, you’re using Facebook more to build brand awareness than drive direct sales. When participating in any viral Facebook trends, avoid the hard sell. Instead, create a consistent voice for your brand which suits your audience.
Have a Few Laughs
Most businesses will do fine with adding humor to their Facebook posts. You never want to be inappropriate or offensive. But solid comedy can be very well received. Arby’s is a great example of a brand with a comedic voice.
Think of all the content in an average Facebook feed. Brands aren’t just competing with other brands. They’re competing with entertainers, friends, news and more. Humor helps many brands stand out from the crowd.
Add Plenty of Visuals
Status updates aren’t just text-based. Facebook allows for the easy uploading of videos, so you should include as many as possible.
Images are great, too. Check out our post Great Images for more info. While specifics vary, you want to include images or video in roughly three out of every four posts.
The Ideal Facebook Status Update
Most major brands stick to this formula:
- One to three lines of text
- A photo or a video
That’s usually a solid starting point. Your SEO agency will adjust and refine your Facebook post type and schedule over time. Facebook allows for the collection of many user metrics, which is helpful in determining what types of posts are reaching the largest possible audience.
Sometimes business owners are a bit wary at first about hiring professionals to manage their brand’s Facebook page. But Facebook optimization can result in noticeable improvements to brand recognition, customer engagement and ultimately sales.
Is your Facebook page leading to conversions? Let us show you how our customized solutions can help your brand.